The present invention relates to protective clothing, especially NBC-protective clothing, with an improved air-exchange function.
In particular, the present invention relates to protective clothing with a protective function against chemical and/or biological contaminants, especially for civil or military purposes, such as NBC-protective clothing or the like, according to the present invention.
In addition, the present invention relates to a method for improving the air exchange in protective clothing of the type named above with a protective function against chemical and/or biological contaminants.
There is a series of substances that are absorbed by the skin and lead to severe bodily injuries. As examples of, for example, chemical or biological contaminants, especially warfare agents, e.g., the vesicant yperite (mustard gas) and the nerve gas sarin, shall be mentioned. People who come in contact with such poisons must wear a suitable protective suit or must be protected against these poisons through suitable protective materials.
In principle there are three types of protective suits: protective suits that are impermeable to air and water vapor and that are equipped with an unvulcanized or vulcanized rubber layer that is impermeable to chemical poisons and lead very quickly to a buildup of heat, also protective suits that are permeable to air and water vapor and that offer the highest level of wearing comfort, and finally protective suits that are equipped with a membrane that allows the penetration, in general, of water vapor but not of the mentioned poisons.
NBC-protective clothing is thus traditionally manufactured either from completely impermeable systems (e.g., suits made from butyl rubber) or from selectively permeable systems (e.g., membrane systems) or else from permeable, especially absorbent filter systems, preferably on the basis of activated carbon (e.g., activated carbon powder, activated carbon fibers, activated carbon grains, activated carbon pellets, etc.).
Protective suits against chemical warfare agents, which are designed for long-term use under a wide array of conditions, are not allowed to lead to heat buildup for the wearer. Therefore, in the civil and military sector, especially for uses in disaster or war zones, mainly air-permeable materials or else, at most, selectively permeable membrane systems are used.
Air-permeable protective suits in general possess an adsorbent layer with activated carbon, which very strongly bonds the chemical poisons so that there is absolutely no danger for the wearer even for strongly contaminated suits. The great advantage of this system lies in that the activated carbon is also accessible on the inside of the protective suit, so that any poisons penetrating through damaged or otherwise non-tight locations can be absorbed very quickly. The adsorbent layer in the previously described air-permeable protective suits is constructed, for example, such that activated carbon particles, e.g., on average up to circa 1.0 mm, are fixed to adhesive clumps or positions deposited on a carrier, wherein the adsorbent layer is generally supplemented by an “external material” (i.e., a cover material) and is covered on the inside facing the carrier by a lightweight textile material in the form of an inner lining. However, occasionally one also finds composite materials that include an activated carbon fibrous textile, e.g., an activated carbon fibrous non-woven.
In addition, protective suits are used that are equipped with a membrane that is constructed as water-vapor-permeable for increasing the wearing comfort, but that simultaneously acts as a barrier against liquids and gases, especially poisonous substances. Such a material is described, for example, in EP 0 827 451 A2. Protective suits with a membrane that is permeable to water vapor but impermeable to poisons, especially vesicants, however, have the disadvantage that poisons penetrating at non-tight locations remain in the interior of the protective suit and are absorbed by the skin of the wearer. Therefore, protective suits have been designed that combine the membrane and absorbent layer with each other (cf. WO 2005/049147 A1).
Due to the intended protective function of the type named above, air exchange is difficult even in permeable systems, especially due to the generally thick and tight top material, while it is not even present in impermeable or selectively permeable systems, especially on the membrane basis. Dependent on the structure and also influenced selectively by the construction of the textiles, in general the exchange of moisture with the surroundings takes place from a textile through openings, such as, e.g., for the neck, arms, legs, etc., (one example is underarm slits in raincoats, which should lead to improved removal of sweat, etc.), while in protective suits of the type named above with a protective function against biological and chemical poisons, the exchange of air with the surroundings largely must be prevented, especially also by means of a sealing connection at the previously mentioned openings for the neck, arms, legs, etc. Thus, for example, in protective suits very tight seals are intentionally used at the head, arms, legs, etc.
Consequently, even for permeable systems, a not-always-optimum air exchange is given, while such an air exchange is not provided at all in impermeable systems, e.g., with unvulcanized or vulcanized rubber or in selectively permeable systems on a membrane basis, so that not only is the wearing comfort reduced, but also an increased bodily strain, particularly physical exertion, is generated for the wearer of such a protective suit (e.g., in an operational area or war zone), because adequate air and moisture exchange, and consequently adequate heat dissipation, are not possible.
One aspect addressed by the present invention relates to providing protective clothing of the type named above, especially with a protective function against chemical and/or biological contaminants, preferably for civil or military purposes, such as NBC-protective clothing or the like, in which the previously mentioned disadvantages of the state of the art are largely prevented or else at least lessened. In particular, such protective clothing should exhibit an improved air-exchange function and also an improved moisture exchange function (e.g., for removing sweat, etc.).
The previously mentioned problem is solved within the scope of the present invention by protective clothing according to the disclosure and claims. Additional advantageous constructions of the protective clothing according to the invention are also the subject matter of the disclosure and claims.
An additional aspect of the present invention is a method for improving the air exchange in protective clothing of the type named above according to the disclosure and claims.
The applicant has now discovered surprisingly that the problem mentioned above can be solved efficiently in that the protective clothing in question is provided with at least one ventilation opening, which itself is closed with a gas-permeable, especially air-permeable, protective filter material that sorbs chemical and/or biological contaminants.
The subject matter of the present invention—according to a first aspect of the present invention—is thus protective clothing with an improved air-exchange function and also with a protective function against chemical and/or biological contaminants, especially for civil or military purposes, such as NBC protective clothing or the like, wherein the protective clothing has a multiple-layer design (i.e., a multiple-ply textile construction), which comprises an outer material and an inner material equipped with a protective function against chemical and/or biological [contaminants], wherein the protective clothing has at least one ventilation opening, which is closed with a gas-permeable, especially air-permeable, protective material that sorbs chemical and/or biological contaminants.
The terms “outer material” on one hand and “inner material” on the other hand relate to the wearing state of the protective clothing, i.e., in the wearing state of the protective clothing, the outer material faces away from the wearer of the protective clothing and consequently faces the outer surroundings or is in contact with these surroundings, while the inner material, in the wearing state, faces the wearer or faces away from the outer surroundings (i.e., is arranged on the body side). Thus, for example, the outer material, as described below, can be a top material, while the inner material performs the actual protective function against chemical and/or biological poisons, as described below in detail.
Through the construction of the protective clothing according to the invention, the air exchange in the wearing state is improved efficiently according to the present invention. Simultaneously, the exchange or removal of moisture, especially sweat, is improved. Therefore, the measure according to the invention leads to a clear improvement in the wearing comfort and, under real use conditions, equally to reduced bodily strain on the wearer of such protective clothing, especially during physical activity.
As described below, the concept according to the invention can be applied universally, i.e., both for permeable systems of the type named above and also for impermeable or selectively permeable systems, especially membrane systems, of the type named above. While it is sufficient to provide the outer material with one or more such ventilation openings in air-permeable systems, in the case of impermeable systems with a membrane arranged on the inside, at least the inner material or the membrane must be provided with such a ventilation opening in order to guarantee improved air exchange as well as equally improved moisture removal. This will be discussed in detail below.
In the scope of the present invention, the term of chemical and biological contaminants is understood to be very far-reaching and includes any kind of chemical toxicant (e.g., chemical warfare agents, etc.) and biological poisons (e.g., biological warfare agents such as microorganisms, viruses fixed to carrier particles, etc.).
As previously mentioned, the ventilation opening(s) intentionally formed for improving the air-exchange function in the protective clothing according to the invention is or are closed with a protective filter material, which has a gas-permeable, especially air-permeable, construction and which sorbs chemical and/or biological contaminants efficiently, in particular through adsorption and/or absorption, preferably through adsorption.
In the scope of the present invention, the term sorption relates to a collective term for all processes in which a chemical or biological material is received by another material in contact with the chemical or biological material, in the present case the chemical and/or biological contaminants by the sorbent protective filter material. Examples for sorption processes are adsorption, absorption, chemisorption, and physisorption, persorption, resorption etc. The sorbed substance is designed as the sorbate and the sorbing substance is designated as the sorbent, sorption means, sorption material, etc. Preferably, according to the invention the sorption is performed by means of adsorption and/or absorption, preferably by means of adsorption. For additional details on the term of sorption as well as adsorption, absorption etc., refer to, for example, Römpp Chemielexikon, 10th edition, Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart/New York, there the related head words: “Sorption,” “Adsorption,” “Absorption,” etc., and the references cited there.
As described above, a special feature of the present invention is to be seen in that the protective clothing is provided with at least one ventilation opening for improving the air exchange as well as the moisture and heat removal, with this opening being closed, in turn, with the gas-permeable, especially air-permeable, protective filter material in question that sorbs chemical and/or biological contaminants. The closing of the ventilation opening is performed here generally such that at least the ventilation opening itself is closed or filled with the protective filter material in question. In general, however, it is provided that the previously named sorbent protective material not only closes the ventilation opening as such, but also extends past the edges of the ventilation opening: if, for example, in permeable protective clothing, the ventilation opening is formed in the outer material, then the outer material is coated or, so-to-speak, lined on the inside with the sorbent protective filter material (e.g., through inner attachment of the protective film material on the outer material in the area of the ventilation opening and outwards), so that on one hand the ventilation opening itself is closed, and on the other hand the edge regions of the ventilation opening are coated or cladded with the protective filter material. In this way, chemical and/or biological contaminants at the edges of the ventilation opening are prevented from being able to undesirably diffuse or flow past the sorbent protective filter material and thus reach the wearer of the protective clothing.
Additional advantageous properties, aspects, and features of the present invention emerge from the following description of an embodiment shown in the figures.